VATICAN CITY, NOV. 8, 2004 (Zenit.org).- John Paul II encouraged bankers to nurture social renewal, when he received in audience 7,000 officers and members of Rome’s Cooperative Credit Bank, on the 50th anniversary of its foundation.
“At all times, especially at present, it is necessary that Christians be in every environment ferment of authentic social renewal and leaven of evangelical hope,” the Pope said Saturday during the meeting held in Paul VI Hall.
“Be always aware as believers that, to carry out your task faithfully, you must cultivate an assiduous personal contact with Christ,” the Holy Father said.
“In this connection, you might find the recently published Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church useful for formation and Christian witness,” he said, referring to the volume written by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.
The Pope expressed particular thanks to the bank’s president and his aides for the help they give “the ecclesial communities, the parishes, especially the rural ones, and the works of human development administered by ecclesiastical entities and religious communities.”
In the realm of credit it is necessary to “always keep present the exigencies of the common good,” the Holy Father said.
The bank was founded to support humble people, spread the right to credit, and defend citizens from usury. It has some 13,000 members and 85 agencies and counters.
